1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for producing alkyl-substituted unsaturated lactams.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known to produce lactams from amino acids by splitting off water. However, the amino acids that are suitable for this process quite often are not readily available. One prior art process comprises hydrogenating alkyl-substituted phenols to alkyl-substituted cyclohexanols, dehydrogenating the cyclohexanols to the corresponding ketones, forming oximes and subjecting them to the Beckmann rearrangement, to obtain alkyl-substituted lactams. This procedure is troublesome and uneconomical.
Surprisingly, it was found that alkyl-substituted unsaturated .delta.-lactams are obtained by contacting the suitable monocyanoethylated ketones with an aqueous acid solution and permitting them to react.